


Genesis of the Daleks AU

by asarahworld



Series: The Doctor and Rose Tyler [46]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Episode Remix, F/M, Ficandchips, Gen, Serial: s078 Genesis of the Daleks, Tumblr: doctorroseprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asarahworld/pseuds/asarahworld
Summary: A human woman calling herself the Abomination arrives on Skaro as the Doctor questions the moral implications of his mission.





	Genesis of the Daleks AU

**Author's Note:**

> Character Overview: Bettan is a female Thal soldier. Davros is the Kaled creator of the Daleks. Nyder is kinda like his henchman. The Thals and Kaleds are the natural inhabitants of the planet Skaro. Genesis of the Daleks is viewable on Dailymotion.
> 
> Genesis of the Daleks rewrite, beginning with episode four. Anything recognizable was written by Terry Nation and adapted by me.

“I have read the initial reports of your interrogation. The suggestion that you have travelled through space and time was utterly dismissed by the computer analysis.” Davros said, eyeing the Doctor with interest.

“I imagine it had never been programmed for such a concept,” the Doctor replied as nonchalantly as he could from where he was strapped into the torture chair.

“Precisely,” Davros agreed. “I, however, I am perhaps more flexible. Though the power of such travel is beyond my scientific comprehension, it is not beyond my imagination. Why did you come here?” The Daleks’ creator demanded of the Time Lord.

“To stop the development of the Daleks.” Davros was intelligent, tantamount to a genius (if, of course, the Doctor hadn’t been in the room). Perhaps, just maybe, he could be persuaded of the danger he was willing to unleash upon the universe with the creation of the Daleks.

“Why?”

The Doctor expected a cold interrogation and nothing less from the man who had programmed the Daleks as machines of pure hatred and rage. “Because having lived in what you would call the future, I have seen the carnage and destruction they have caused.” Could he convince a man such as Davros, as much a man that remained at least, that the Daleks were an abomination to life itself? That without the Daleks, millions would still be alive?

“Then my Daleks do go on. They do survive.” Davros, it seemed, was pleased by this. Of course, any man would be happy to know that their legacy was intact, but it seemed to the Doctor that Davros took pleasure in the fact that his Daleks had survived by wreaking carnage and destruction against the galaxies.

“Yes, as weapons of hate and machines of war.” They had killed so many people, good people. They had nearly destroyed the Earth when he’d left…but the Doctor would not think of her just now.

“Fascinating.” Fascinating? Yes, the Doctor supposed that it could be considered fascinating that the Daleks were such terrible terrorists, but when faced with the outcome of his creations, why would Davros not realize the opportunity before him? To change the future of the Daleks, to make them more than killing machines?

“But there's still time to change all that. Why not make them a force for good throughout the universe?” Why not, indeed. Though what good a Dalek could do, the Doctor was incapable of imagining. A Dalek was a creature of hatred, locked in an armed tank. What change could be done to their damaged DNA to make a ‘good’ Dalek? Could a ‘good’ Dalek even exist, could a Dalek conceive of a rational viewpoint of what made Dalek-kind evil? A ‘good’ Dalek was one that killed and massacred entire peoples and civilizations.

“I could do it.” Millions of lives would be saved, if Davros was serious. The Doctor briefly wondered how this would affect the twenty-second century where he’d left his granddaughter and the freedom fighter she’d stayed with.

“Then do it. Be remembered for that.” Surely it could not be this easy to stay the creation of the Daleks. Surely not.

“You have seen my Daleks in battle?”

“Many times. I've fought against them.” Time and time again, they kept returning. Time and time again, he had scraped a win for humanity, for Thals, for the race of whatever planet the Daleks invaded.

“And do they win? Do they always win?” Davros’ priorities were strange, but the Doctor thought it better to answer his questions than to risk alienating him. Perhaps, if Davros knew the future, if there was the slightest touch of compassion in his heart, he could be persuaded to change it.

“Not always. They have been defeated, but never utterly defeated. The Dalek menace always remains.” A threat hanging over the universe, making war against the galaxies, killing machines fuelled by pure hatred.

“If, as you say, they become the supreme creatures of war, how can they lose? How can they fail?” Davros’ questioning was beginning to take the tone of an interrogation, a tone of which the Doctor deeply despised.

“Misfortune, lack of information, sometimes overwhelming opposition.” The Doctor answered without truly answering. He must not change the past so that the Daleks became stronger, without weakness. 

“Yes, but tell me, how do the Daleks fail?” Still, Davros persisted.

“No, Davros, that is a question that the future must keep secret.” Even without his TARDIS, the Time Lord was firm. There were some things that one must never know. Their own future was one such thing. To change the future so the Daleks were stronger…

“What mistakes do they make? You will tell me!”

“No.” The Doctor said firmly.

“You will tell me!” Davros’ voice rose, screeching his insistence.

“No, I will not!” The Doctor was equally, if not more, resolute.

“Nyder.” Nyder left at Davros’ request (demand). “You will tell me because you have a weakness that I have totally eliminated from the minds of the Daleks so they will always be superior. A weakness that will make you give me the knowledge to change the future. You are afflicted with a conscience.” He paused. “Let me tell you what is going to happen. You will answer my questions. You will answer them carefully and precisely. The instruments to which you are wired are particularly sensitive. They will detect instantly any attempt to lie.”

“And if I do lie?” The Doctor was not certain that he wanted to know the answer. What sadistic methods would the creator of the most ruthless race of killers use to persuade him?

“If you lie, your friends will suffer. I can create in their bodies all the torments and agonies ever known.” In demonstration, Davros turned the red knob and Harry and Sarah both immediately tensed as pain wracked their bodies.

“Don't tell him, Doctor!” Sarah Jane gasped out.

“Now, you will tell me the reason for every Dalek defeat. With that knowledge, I will programme them. With that knowledge, they will know their errors and how to avoid them. With that knowledge, there shall be no defeats! We will begin.” Davros turned the knob down once more.

“Davros, if I tell you what you want to know, I betray millions of people in the future. I can't do that.” And yet, if he didn’t tell Davros, he would be betraying Sarah and Harry now.

“But you can! You will tell me. You will tell me! You will tell me!” Davros insisted.

“Doctor, please, don't tell. Doctor.” Harry called, to no avail.

“All right, all right! Just leave them alone.” The Doctor couldn’t bear the torture of his friends, even if it meant telling Davros the Daleks’ future. “The Dalek invasion of the Earth in the year 2000 was foiled because of an attempt by the Daleks to mine the core of the planet. The magnetic properties of the Earth-” he was cut off.

“You want to know what happens to the Daleks in the future?” A new voice spoke from the dark corner.

“Who is there?” Davros turned to face the new arrival as Nyder released the Doctor.

“I happen to the Daleks.” A young woman emerged from the corner, holding a large gun in her hands. She was human, not Kaled or Thal. Her dyed leather jacket indicated she was from Earth, but how an Earth woman could have possibly arrived on Skaro (Sarah Jane excepted) was beyond the Doctor.

“And just who might you be?” Davros turned to face her as she stepped from the shadows.

“The Daleks called me the Abomination.” The woman said, coming forward.

“All this information, this foreknowledge, will be programmed into the Dalek memory banks. Take them away.” Davros did not turn from the mysterious woman as the other humans were escorted away. “Doctor, stay a moment. Sit down. Let us talk together now, not as prisoner and captor, but as men of science. And you, Abomination. Who are you and how did you get in here? There is so much I wish to know. Nyder, take charge of the tape.”

“Immediately, Davros.” Nyder complied, leaving with the tape.

“It will be your responsibility, and remember, it is priceless. It's value beyond computation.” Davros ordered. “Now, future errors will be eradicated. Defeats will become victories. You have changed the future of the universe, Doctor. As shall you, Abomination.”

“I have betrayed the future. Davros, for the last time, consider what you're doing. Stop the development of the Daleks.” The Doctor begged.

“Impossible. It is beyond my control. The workshops are already fully automated to produce the Dalek machines.”

“It's not the machines, it's the minds of the creatures inside them. Minds that you created. They are totally evil.” Living beings trapped in metal machines, created for the sole purpose of wiping out all life that was not Dalek.

“Evil? No. No, I will not accept that. They are conditioned simply to survive. They can survive only by becoming the dominant species. When all other life forms are suppressed, when the Daleks are the supreme rulers of the universe, then you will have peace. Wars will end. They are the power not of evil, but of good.”

“Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?” The Doctor hoped that his analogy would not be lost on the Daleks’ creator. Davros was a superb scientist, with a brilliant mind.

“It is an interesting conjecture,” Davros conceded.

“Would you do it?” The Doctor pressed.

“The only living thing, a microscopic organism reigning supreme. A fascinating idea.” Davros mused.

“But would you do it?” The Doctor ground out, determined to force an answer from the other man.

“Yes. Yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes, I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods. And through the Daleks, I shall have that power!”

“That’s not how it would work,” the Abomination spoke. Both Davros and the Doctor froze, the Doctor’s hand raised above Davros’ life support systems. “I destroyed the last of the Daleks. I’d do as the Doctor says and give the order.”

“Even if I do this, there will be no escape for you. Either of you.” Davros spat.

“I'll take that chance. Now give the order.” The Doctor looked at the woman calling herself Abomination, raising an eyebrow as she nodded.

“Press the communicator switch.” Davros said. The Doctor complied. “This is Davros. Elite unit seven will go to the incubator room. All survival maintenance systems are to be closed down. The Dalek creatures are to be destroyed.”

“Tell them the order cannot be countermanded.” The Doctor added.

“This order cannot,” Davros began, as Nyder knocked the Doctor out.

“No,” the Abomination cried out as she, too, was knocked unconscious.

4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4R4

“No, there isn't. We've got to recover that Time Ring.” The Doctor corrected Sarah.

“Because without it, we'll never get off this planet. But, where is it?”

“It's on the desk in the main laboratory. And then there's that tape recording that Nyder took. We've got to get it back at all costs. It would make the Daleks invincible. Come on.”

“Doctor, the woman, she’s waking.”

“The Time Ring, Sarah,” the Doctor reminded her.

“Well we can’t leave her. What if the Daleks kill her? We’ll just have to bring her along,” Sarah said stubbornly.

“Oh, very well.” The Doctor draped the mysterious woman’s arm over his shoulder and swept her up. The foursome made their way down the corridor until they came to a locked cupboard. The Doctor toed the door open and, after using a Time Lord gadget on it, opened it to pull out camouflage clothing. Sarah took the clothing from the cupboard, spying   
something underneath.

“Useful. Ah. This is something rather more useful,” the Doctor remarked.

“They're explosives, aren't they?” Sarah guessed.

“Yes. Explosives and detonators. It seems almost providential.” The Doctor said softly.

“Why? What are you going to use them for?”

“The Time Lords gave me three options. There's only one still open. Genocide.” The Daleks must be destroyed. They posed too great a danger to time itself.

“Genocide?” Harry was incredulous. Surely the Doctor wasn’t serious. To kill an entire species… Harry wasn’t sure what to think. Yes, the Daleks were monsters, but for the Doctor to kill them all…

“Yes. I'm going to kill everything in the incubation room. I'm going to destroy the Daleks forever.” And wasn’t that just a chilling thought? If he ended the Daleks before they began, how many lives would be saved?

“The Daleks are in there?” Sarah peered through the door.

“The flesh and blood part of them. Indeed, they are flesh and blood.” Daleks, it seemed, were more than murderous machines. They were what remained of a people. An entire race, forced into one-man armoured tanks, experimented on by a sick man…

“Some of them can move about.” Harry commented.

“Well, how do I see?” Sarah asked.

“Press the button.” The Doctor said. Sarah pressed it and peered into the room. The lighting was green and cast a sickly look over Davros' experiments. They weren't Daleks, not yet, (but no longer were they Kaleds, either) and never would be if the Doctor completed his task.

“Pay it out quickly, Harry,” the Doctor said urgently.

“You're not going in there, are you?” Sarah looked to the Doctor with concern. Those things still were Daleks (weren’t they?), even if they hadn't fully evolved yet.

“They're harmless enough, I think. Just unpleasant.” The Doctor handed the detonator wires to Sarah.

As the Doctor started to leave, Harry added, “you don't want me to come in, do you, Doctor?”

“There's no need, Harry. It just remains to put the charges where they'll do the most damage. It shouldn't take me more than a couple of minutes.” Evidently relieved, Harry picked up the unconscious woman and followed Sarah.

As Harry finished prepping the detonator, Sarah was visibly agitated. “What’s taking him so long?”

“It's a very delicate operation, Sarah. Still, he should have finished by now,” Harry had to concede.

“Doctor? Doctor, are you all right?” Sarah called through the door. The Doctor re-entered the corridor with a…thing wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Sarah!” The Doctor choked.

“Get it off! Get it off!” Sarah cried, scrabbling at the tentacled thing twisting around the Doctor’s throat. Harry threw it into the incubation room, the Doctor pulling the rest of it from his skin before closing the door. Hesitantly, he held two wires close, but not touching. “What are you waiting for?”

“Just touch these two strands together and the Daleks are finished. Have I that right?” The Doctor stared at the wires in his hands.

“To destroy the Daleks? You can't doubt it.” Sarah thought of all the deaths and destruction they had caused. She thought of the complete annihilation of Exxilon.

“Well, I do. You see, some things could be better with the Daleks. Many future worlds will become allies just because of their fear of the Daleks.” Earth was only one world in such an alliance. The Daleks brought the universe together while tearing it apart.

“But it isn't like that.”

“But the final responsibility is mine, and mine alone. Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?” And yet, this was his life. Always making choices, always on the edge of making a decision that would affect one – or millions.

“We're talking about the Daleks, the most evil creatures ever invented. You must destroy them. You must complete your mission for the Time Lords.” Sarah countered.

“Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word Dalek.”

Rose had completely awoken and yet did not move, listening to the man whom she now knew was the Doctor. She thought of her first Doctor, vulnerable and completely alone, facing the lone surviving Dalek after the horrors of the Time War. Even then, he couldn’t kill it. He certainly would not be able to do so now, innocent of the annihilation of worlds they would one day destroy.

“Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate.” Sarah Jane Smith. Rose had to smile. The other woman had a very good point, but the Daleks were a living people and not a disease or some sort of bacteria.

“But I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks,” the Doctor said heavily.

Rose thought again of her first Doctor, so scared of being like the Dalek that he had very nearly broken down in front of her. He couldn’t kill a Dalek even then. The Doctor was not a killer, not like this.

“Think of all the suffering there'll be if you don't do it.” Sarah Jane continued her protest.

Rose pulled herself up, leaning against the wall as a wave of nausea overtook her. The Doctor was at her side immediately.

“How do you feel? Am I correct in the assumption that Nyder knocked you unconscious as well?” He asked her. Rose nodded gently, reaching for his hand.

“You can’t kill the Daleks,” she murmured, leaning heavily against him for support.

“Doctor! Doctor, I've been looking everywhere for you. Davros has agreed to our terms!” Gharman burst into the room.

Harry finally spoke up. “He submitted?”

“He did, but he asked only one thing. That he might be allowed to address a meeting of all the Elite, scientific and military.” Gharman said dismissively.

“He's going to put a case?” The Doctor sounded worried.

“Yes, but a vote will be taken. It's a foregone conclusion. There'll be a complete landslide against any further development of the Daleks. We've won.” Gharman’s excitement permeated the room.

“I'm grateful to you, Gharman. More grateful than I can tell you,” the Doctor said pensively. Rose said nothing, gently stroking the Doctor’s thumb. He was agitated, though he was carefully hiding it, and pulled away.

“The meeting's about to begin. Will you come?”

“Yes.” The Doctor pulled the wires from the detonator and he, Sarah, Harry, and Rose followed Gharman into a meeting.

“Everybody is here, Davros.”

Davros began his defence. “The issues are simple and clear cut. I have given my life's work to the survival of our race. The travel machine I designed, the Dalek, will give the creature into which we will mutate its only possibility of continued existence.”

“But you have deviated from that intention. You have introduced genetic changes that will alter the mutation into a creature without morals and without ethics,” Gharman argued.

“I have introduced aggression, without which no race can survive,” Davros countered.

“But aggression without a conscience.”

“History will show that cooperation between different species is impossible. One race must survive all others, and to do this it must dominate. Ruthlessly.” Davros was clearly prepared. As Davros continued his defence, the Doctor gestured for Sarah to bring his equipment from Gharman's desk. “Now I intend that when all the bickering and battling is over, the supreme victor shall be our race, the Daleks.” Sarah handed the etheric beam locator and sonic screwdriver to Harry, who passed them on to the Doctor. “At this very moment, the production lines stand ready, totally automated, fully programmed. The Daleks are no longer dependant on us. The machinery is ready. They are a power in their own right. If any one of you would destroy everything that we have ever achieved, then here is a destruct button. Press it, and you will destroy this bunker and everything in it. Only this room will remain. Press it and you will wipe out our entire race, destroy the Daleks forever. Which of you will do it?” The travellers continued their search as the Kaleds considered Davros’ words. “You are men without courage. You have lost your right to survive,” Davros declared.

“The Time Ring isn't here, Doctor.” Harry said urgently, sotto voce.

“What?” The Doctor said in disbelief.

“The Time Ring, it's not here.” Harry looked at the Doctor as Davros continued his case.

“You have heard Davros' case. What he has not made clear is that there is another way,” Gharman announced.

“There is no other way!” Davros insisted.

“Production of the Dalek can continue. We can destroy the genetically conditioned creatures and allow the mutation to follow its own course. Our race will survive if it deserves to survive, but let it have all the strengths and weaknesses that we have. Compassion and hate. Let it do good things and evil.” Gharman argued. “But we cannot let it become an unfeeling, heartless machine. That is our choice. Now, we must decide.” 

A wave of understanding washed over Rose as she pieced this together with what she had heard the Doctor speaking of. This was the Dalek homeworld before the Daleks had become Daleks. They were at what must be a fixed point in time, and yet it must be a temptation even for a Time Lord to have the chance to prevent the millions of deaths that they would cause.

“We've got to find that Time Ring,” the Doctor said quietly.

Sarah grinned. “Doctor,” she held up the Time Ring.

“Good girl, Sarah. Now all we need is the tape recording, so keep an eye on Nyder.” The Doctor said.

“You've heard our cases. I will give you two minutes to decide. Then you must answer not only to me, but to the future.” Davros proclaimed. The room was silent. 

At exactly the two-minute mark, he spoke once more. “You have had ample time to decide. Those who would remain loyal to me and to the future of our race, move forward and stand at my side.” He was joined by two Kaled scientists. “No more? Kravos, will you betray me?”

“Now I wonder where Nyder's going at such a crucial moment,” the Doctor turned his attention to the man who was slipping out from the room, clearly attempting to remain inconspicuous.

“I think we ought to find out,” Harry agreed, looking after him.

“So do I. Let's go.” The foursome left the room as the trial went on. The Doctor and Rose slipped behind Nyder as Sarah and Harry advanced, knocking the cosh and Time Ring free; the Doctor was quick to pick up the cosh. As the Doctor advanced on Nyder, Rose picked up the Time Ring for safekeeping. “Now where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Davros has lost. I am getting away while I can.”

“Oh. Somehow that just doesn't ring true,” the Doctor dismissed his excuse.

“Why didn't you just join the other side?” Sarah asked.

“Now that's a good question.” The Doctor said approvingly. “Do you have a good answer? Evidently not. Well then, let's try something else. That tape recording you took, where is it?”

“It's put away in a safe in Davros' office.” Nyder looked at the group.

“Shall we go and see?” The Doctor asked cheerily, looking at Rose in surprise as she took his hand.

“Down here.” Nyder led them into the next room. There was a safe in the wall, with an Elite Corps mural marking it.

“Now, be reasonable and open it for us.” The Doctor turned from examining the safe to Nyder.

“Only Davros knows the combination.”

“Come on, Nyder, you can do better than that.” Harry clearly did not believe the Kaled man.

Sarah protested. “Perhaps he's telling the truth.”

“Oh, no, no. On the contrary. Now, Davros can't rise from his chair, correct?” The Doctor’s mind was whirring.

“Well?”

“And he has the use of only one hand, this hand. (the right one) And Davros never goes anywhere without you, Nyder. So you must open the safe for him. Open it for us.” The Doctor reasoned. Nyder looked at the Doctor, then opened the safe, handing the tape hidden within to the Doctor.

“Thank you. Now let's destroy it.” The Doctor said gravely.

“Er, how about this?” Sarah held up an object.

“How very apt. A Dalek gun.” The Doctor said, faintly amused. He placed the tape on the floor, using the gun to blow it up as Nyder left the room. “There,” he looked up as the door shut after Nyder. Harry tried to open it again, but it was stuck. “He's not important.”

“What?” Sarah looked back to the Doctor. Nyder was essentially Davros’ right-hand man, as the Doctor had just pointed out. Nyder was the second most important man on the Kaled base.

“We've got the Time Ring, we've destroyed the tape and Davros' power is broken.” The Doctor smiled.

“What about the Daleks that are already operational?” Sarah countered. Surely they couldn’t leave without doing something about them?

“Oh, I think we can leave Gharman to destroy them.” The Doctor replied merrily.

Harry smiled. “That means we can leave, then.”

“Yes, all we've got to do is touch the Time Ring. And what of you, Abomination? Will you be returning with us to Earth?” The Doctor pushed up his sleeve, revealing…nothing. “Ah. I must have dropped it in the struggle in the corridor.”

“You did. ‘s a good thing that ‘m here,” Rose held out the Ring, a grin on her face. “What do you do without me, Doctor?”

“Well now we've got to get out of here,” Sarah looked from Rose to the Doctor. “Doctor,” Sarah jerked her head toward a large monitor showing the laboratory. “Why is it going on so long?”

“Who knows. It's out of character for Davros to submit quite so easily,” the Doctor frowned. In the laboratory, Davros and Gharman were arguing.

“This is your last chance. Move to join me now or suffer the consequences,” Davros hissed.

Gharman continued to protest. “Why don't you just accept the fact that you have lost. It's over for you, Davros.”

“Do you believe that I would let a lifetime's work be ended by the will of spineless fools like you? You have won nothing. I allowed this charade to be played out for one reason only. To find those men who were truly loyal to me and to discover those who would betray me! We, I will go on!”

“You are insane, Davros.” Davros flicked a switch on his chair and the Doctor and Rose shuddered as they heard the oncoming Daleks chanting ‘Exterminate!’

“Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” Davros cried. The Doctor, Rose, Sarah and Harry were unable to do anything but watch on the monitor as the Elite were murdered by the first Daleks.

“Stop this, Davros. You must stop them!” Kravos cried as Nyder threw him at a Dalek, where he died screaming. Footsteps approached, not on the monitor but from the corridor.   
The door opened – 

“Sevrin!” Sarah gasped.

“I haven't got much time. The Thals have set the explosives at the entrance. They'll detonate as soon as they're ready,” the Muto explained hurriedly.

“What?”

“Let's go. Back, back!” The Doctor took Sarah’s free hand and she took Harry’s and all five people ran to escape the Daleks. “Back!” They ran down the corridor, Daleks everywhere.

“We're not far from the main entrance. If we can get through the next section, we'll be safe,” Servin inhaled sharply.

The Doctor took the Time Ring from Rose. “Sarah, take this. Sevrin, lead them to the main entrance. Get them out of here.”

“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked, her voice concerned.

“I'm going back to the incubator room. This time I'm going to blow it up,” the Doctor said gravely.

“Let us come with you,” Sarah said defiantly. Rose nodded in agreement, protesting his decision. He had made a decision for her twice before, both times ending with her leaving against her will. She was not about to simply let him do it to her again.

“No! Get out of here. Hurry. Now, go on,” he ushered them out. Rose looked hard at the Doctor, and he must have been able to see something in her eyes because he did not ask her to leave with his companions. The Doctor steeled himself, then exited the room to pick up the detonator wires once more. Two Daleks rounded the corner, firing. The Doctor dropped the wires, turning the corner through the doorway, Rose reaching for his hand to pull him into the room. The Doctor reached once more for the wiring and the Dalek fired again.

“Run,” Rose took his hand and they heard an explosion as the Dalek rolled over the wiring. They could hear Sarah calling.

“No, wait! He's coming! He's coming!” They ran faster, barely making it through the narrowing gap as the Daleks came after them. The doors closed as soon as they were through.

“Now!” Bettan signalled. Rose held on to the Doctor as the ground shook with the explosion.

“The incubator room, were you able to do anything?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, with a little help from a Dalek. But I'm afraid I've only delayed them for a short time. Perhaps a thousand years.”

“What?” Sarah asked.

The Doctor elaborated. “In the total time scale, no more than that. Goodbye, Bettan.”

“Goodbye, Harry,” Bettan waved to the travellers.

“Sevrin,” the Doctor gave the Kaled man a look, placing his hand on the Time Ring.

“Thank you, Sevrin,” Sarah followed suit.

“Goodbye. Thank you,” the Doctor watched as the Thals left. “Hands on the Time Ring.” He eyed Rose suspiciously. “Aren’t you coming back to Earth?”

Rose fingered the dimension hopper around her neck. “You don’t even know who I am and you’d just take me with you.”

“You’re human, not Kaled or Thal. This is not your planet, which seems to beg the question of how you arrived here,” the Doctor looked her over.

“I never did catch your name. Harry Sullivan,” Harry stuck his hand out.

Rose shook it. “The Daleks called me the Abomination. ‘m trying not to change timelines, though I suppose that my being here has done so already.”

“And just how much do you know of timelines,” the Doctor looked at her, arms folded across his chest.

“Enough,” a tongue-touched smile suddenly shone. “Learned from the best, didn’t I?” The Doctor was still visually searching her, looking for clues to her identity. Blonde hair from a peroxide bottle, blue leather jacket with a purple shirt and black leggings, boots, large but simple silver hoops in her ears. None of it made an iota of sense to the Doctor. “I know enough that if I tell you too much, you’ll need to bury your own memories.”

“That’s nothing I haven’t done before,” the Doctor said dismissively. “I have already done so twice, that I know of. It’s a simple process.”

Rose looked to Sarah. “It’s not just your timeline that’s changed.”

“What, I know you in the future?” Sarah looked from the Doctor to the Abomination.

“You’re brilliant, Sarah Jane Smith,” Rose smiled.

“You know who I am?”

“Yeah.” Rose fingered the Dimension Cannon around her neck. It was time. Well past time (well, not quite), as a matter of fact, for her to return to the parallel universe. But there was no denying that she ought to have left as soon as she’d realized she was in the wrong timestream.

“Am I correct in assuming that the miniature transport around your neck is a dimensional hopper, not meant for time travel?” The Doctor asked. Rose nodded. “Am I correct in further assuming that you have travelled through time to get here?”

“Technically it’s connected to your TARDIS. When I made this jump, I felt her sort of…transfer me to the Time Ring.”

“The question of your identity remains,” the Doctor looked at Rose, still trying to read her.

“Hidden for now unless you want to hide your memories of what happened here. Somehow, I doubt the Time Lords would be happy with that,” Rose deflected the question. The Time Lords. Though she knew that this was a younger version of her Doctor, it felt strange to know that his people were still alive, his planet whole, and that he had just met the first Daleks and their creator. Rose looked at the Doctor, so young and far more innocent, and hugged him suddenly. “I’ll see you again. But first you’ll need to meet me,” she choked, half a cry, half a laugh. She pushed the button around her neck and faded from view.

“I suppose that we ought to be getting away from Skaro as well,” the Doctor looked at his companions, holding out the Time Ring.

“You don't seem too disappointed. We've failed, haven't we?” Sarah asked as the Time Ring activated.

“Failed? No, not really. You see, I know that although the Daleks will create havoc and destruction for millions of years, I know also that out of their evil must come something good.”


End file.
